1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to attachable and removable protectors for preventing nicks, dings and other damages to vehicle doors and panels.
2. General Background and State of the Art
The sides of vehicles suffer damage from contact with other objects. The driver of a vehicle in an adjacent parking space may open his or her door into the vehicle's door or panel. A shopping cart may roll, or a person's luggage or gym bag may strike the door or panel. Even minor contact may cause the panel to dent or the paint to scratch.
For many years, most new vehicles have had built-in rubberized strips attached to their sides. The strips often mount at the widest part of the door and side panels where impact from foreign objects is most likely. Though they vary in shape, length, width and thickness, they often are quite thin. Consequently, they do not project far from the vehicle sides and usually blend into the lines of the vehicle. Therefore, unless a potential damage-causing object aligns with the strip, part of the object may contact the door or panel above or below the strip. Some vehicles advertise panels that resist damage from foreign objects. Nevertheless, scratches and dents remain possible.
To protect customers' vehicles, some parking garages, especially private airport parking garages, hang large pads from the ceiling between adjacent parking spaces. Some garages charge premium rates for those spaces. The pads may be appropriate at airport parking garages because one frequently must open vehicle doors wide to put luggage in a rear or front passenger seat. The very act of moving luggage or luggage carts can cause contact with adjacent vehicles. Nevertheless, hanging large pads is not a practical form of protection for most situations.
The prior art teaches several vehicle protectors. Usually made of resilient material and thick enough to provide more protection than the built-in side strip, they are portable for carrying with the vehicle. Some have magnets to hold the protector to the steel side of a vehicle. The following U.S. Pat. Nos.: Haslam, No. 3,147,176 (1964), McGlone, No. 4,498,697 (1985); Myers, No. 4,726,614 (1988); Bray, No. 4,871,205 (1989); Villaveces, No. 5,188,407 (1993); and Hart No. 5,320,392 (1994), are examples. Some protectors attach with suction cups, but they can dislodge and may affect the vehicle surface.
If magnets or suction cups are the only attaching device, thieves can steal the protectors easily. To solve the theft problem, some prior art patents have a hook secured to the protector that fits between the vehicle door and the door post. The user closes the door on the hook so that the hook is captured between the door and the door post. McGlone, Myers, Bray and Villaveces are examples. Because the user can lock the door, thieves who cannot open the door cannot remove the protector without damaging it. Thus, the hook may prevents thieves from removing the protector and using it on their vehicles.
Having a long protector covers a larger area of the vehicle, but longer protectors are more awkward to store. The prior art teaches folding protectors for storage.